Summertime is finally here, and it’s my favorite time of year. I love cooking for parties and potlucks, but in the summertime it’s definitely no fun to be stuck in a hot kitchen! Therefore, I’ve decided to make a Peach Raspberry Melba No-Bake Cheesecake. It’s super delicious, easy to make, and requires no hot oven whatsoever, especially with the help of all my amazing KitchenAid® appliances.
Next I made my cheesecake filling in my amazing Artisan Stand Mixer which is the best way to beat cream cheese and sugar together into a light and fluffy and delicious no-bake filling, so make sure you get the VonShef 1260W Black Food Stand Mixer to bake all your delicious treats!
I love my new Springform pan that I used to make the cheesecake in,
and I got a super cool electric kettle that I used to poach the peaches with.
You’re going to love this chilled creamy cheesecake with vanilla poached peaches and a homemade raspberry sauce. It’s so refreshing and is simply the perfect dessert for the summertime months! This is such an easy dessert recipe that requires no hot oven, and I’m so excited for you to try this recipe for yourself. Get as creative as you want with the no-bake cheesecake base and toppings, and just have fun with it!
You could substitute blackberries or blueberries for the sauce, switch up your cream cheese flavors (I used half regular and half peach flavored cream cheese for the filling), add some spices or chocolate powder to your graham cracker crust (or try Oreos, vanilla wafers or chocolate grahams!) or try poaching some other stone fruit such as nectarines or plums..the possibilities are endless!
And when you have all these amazing KitchenAid tools to help you make it, it makes the cooking easier and more fun! Be sure to share your take on this Peach Raspberry Melba No-Bake Cheesecake recipe with us on Instagram using #MadeWithKitchenAid for a chance to be featured.
I made myself a pledge to focus on being healthier and happier since the New Year has started… getting more sleep, balancing work and life better, focusing on my business and my brand with a revived passion, reaching out to friends and family more often, traveling more, eating healthier and getting more walking around the city in, and just choosing to be happy every day, no matter what. NO EXCUSES.
BUT, see the thing is…I hate diets. They never last (at least not for long), and I slowly grow tired of counting calories and feeling deprived and end up eating like a maniac and ruining all the good i just did by torturing myself on the diet in the first place. So I’ve decided to go in a different direction by simply cutting sugar out of my diet, eating more healthy lean proteins and fresh veggies and cutting DOWN on carbs, not fully out. It seems to lessen the pain of a diet and I truly feel better and am more conscious of what I eat by tracking the amount of carbs I’m taking in. So far, so good.
So I decided I wouldn’t fully deprive myself of the carb-laden pasta dishes I crave in the Winter and that I’ve been missing out on, and made a Chicken, Spinach, Mushroom & Bacon FettuccineAlfredo that’s absolutely to die for. I used some lower-carb fettuccine pasta (Carba-Nada, which I got on Amazon for $10 and it only has 17 grams of carbs in 1.5 cups of pasta...LOVE IT). I sautéed some chicken breasts, shallots, garlic, bacon and added some spinach and mushrooms to make the base for the pasta. Then I made a delicious Alfredo sauce with half and half, unsalted butter, whipped cream cheese and shredded Parmesan cheese, thinned down with some water to make a semi-healthier version of this luscious, velvety (and usually super rich and fattening) pasta sauce.
I hope you’re getting through the Winter OK yourselves, and if not, whip up a batch of this deliciousness. Guilt-Free. You’ll be just fine, I promise. 😉
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup water, as needed for desired sauce consistency
Instructions
CHICKEN, SPINACH & MUSHROOM PASTA
Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions, drain and set aside. Reserve some of the pasta water to add back in to the pasta sauce later on, for consistency.
Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy and cooked through. Drain on paper towels, crumble and set aside.
Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts, brush olive oil on and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Drain bacon grease from saute pan and raise heat to medium high. Saute chicken breasts, about 6 minutes per side, until a nice browning occurs and chicken is cooked through. Set aside, and keep warm with tented foil. (NOTE: You may also grill the chicken if desired at the same cooking time).
In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons of butter and saute shallots for a few minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add sliced mushrooms and saute for another few minutes until they are soft.
Defrost frozen spinach in microwave for 5 minutes, drain and then add spinach (you can also add fresh spinach now) to the pan with the shallots, garlic and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes until all cooked through, add crumbled bacon and season with freshly ground black pepper. Turn heat to low and keep warm while making the Alfredo sauce.
ALFREDO SAUCE
In a medium saucepan, melt butter, cream and whipped cream cheese over medium-low heat.
Add shredded Parmesan cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper. If sauce seems too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water to the sauce to thin it down to desired consistency.
Pour the Alfredo sauce into the pan with the spinach and mushroom mixture, slice the chicken into slices or chunks and add to the sauce and stir together well.
Serve hot over the pasta (or you can mix the pasta into the sauce ahead of serving, whatever you prefer).
Summer is my favorite time of year – blue sunny skies, lazy days on the patio, weekend trips to the beach and lake and backyard gatherings with friends and family. Most of all, I love the fresh juicy fruits of summer – stone fruits like peaches and plums and cherries and all the fresh berries in season like blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.
Over the July 4th holiday weekend we had a fun backyard BBQ at my parents house with some of my relatives that I haven’t seen in awhile. I used to look forward to all the fun cookouts we did every summer with my family and cousins when I was a kid so it was a fun surprise to hear they were coming over for the day.
I wanted to make a special summery dessert and something different than our usual holiday traditions such as Aunt Irene’s Reception Salad and Grandma’s Lemon Meringue Pie. I decided on a Peach-Raspberry Almond Vanilla Cream Tart made with luscious juicy fresh peaches and raspberries that are bathed in a gorgeous peach glaze. They lie on a bed of sweet creamy ricotta and cream cheese blended with a hint of almond and vanilla on top of a flaky buttery puff pastry as the base.
The combination of the sweet fruit and tangy sweet almond vanilla cream over the layers of flaky buttery pastry was the perfect refreshing yet sinful treat to top off an awesome hot Summer day out on the back patio. My Aunt and Grandma may not be with us anymore to make their legendary desserts, but I’ve decided to step in their shoes and make this delicious concoction a new yearly tradition for our family summer backyard gatherings going forward.
Savoring the Fruits of Summer :: Peach-Raspberry Almond Vanilla Cream Tart
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield: Makes 2 tarts serving 12 to 16.
Ingredients
2 puff pastry sheets, defrosted
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
2 peaches, diced
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 lemon rind quarters
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese (one regular, one light) at room temperature
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 peaches, sliced thin
1 cup raspberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Tart pastry: Rollout puff pastry sheets on a floured surface and place on two lightly greased rectangular baking sheets.
Score a 1-inch border around each pastry sheet. Beat eggs and water together and lightly brush the pastry sheets.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven and let pastry sheets cool completely.
Glaze: Meanwhile, dice two peaches and add sugar, lemon juice, lemon rinds and 2 cups of water into a small-medium pan on the stove. Simmer over medium heat until the peach is soft and the glaze is thickened about 10-15 minutes. Remove the lemon rinds and let the glaze cool to the side.
Cream Filling: In a large mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Beat together with a mixer until smooth and spread evenly on to each pastry sheet, leaving a 1-inch border on the pastry. Arrange the peach slices on top of the cream filling in layered rows and brush the peaches with all but a few tablespoons of the glaze. Toss the raspberries with the rest of the glaze and randomly place on top of the peaches. Serve right away or keep cool in the refrigerator covered for a few hours.
To serve, cut the tarts into squares and garnish with toasted almonds or whipped cream if desired.
Notes
Chef’s Note: The pastry and cream filling is really delicious and super versatile for making any type of fruit tart. You can substitute the peaches and raspberries for any type of berry – blueberries, strawberries, blackberries or use fresh plums or kiwi fruit and adjust the recipe accordingly for the glaze and fruit topping. You can also substitute some toasted pistachios in place of the almonds. Get creative!
